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LOS ANGELES -- The Kobe Bryant-Karl Malone feud has turned personal, with Bryant accusing Malone of making a pass at his wife at a game.
"He was like a mentor, like a brother to me, so when something like that happens, you're upset, you're hurt," Bryant said Sunday night before the Los Angeles Lakers played the Orlando Magic.
Malone has been recuperating from knee surgery, and last Tuesday his agent said he didn't plan to return to the Lakers because of comments Bryant made in a radio interview. Bryant spoke about the Lakers having to look over their shoulders, wondering whether Malone was going to play again.
Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, said then that Malone was furious at Bryant, and also said private, personal attacks were involved, but would not elaborate.
Bryant elaborated plenty on Sunday.
He said he had phoned Malone, who has a home near Bryant's in Newport Beach, after Vanessa Bryant told her husband on Nov. 23 that Malone had made inappropriate comments to her that night at the game at Staples Center.
Bryant said he called Malone and told him, "Stay away from my wife. What's wrong with you? How could you?"
Malone was unavailable for comment Sunday. Manley did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.
Manley, however, told the Los Angeles Times: "Karl wants to give you two messages. He never hit on Vanessa, nor would he. In fact, when he first heard (the accusations), he said, 'You have to be kidding me.' As for the comments he made to her that offended her personally, he told both her and Kobe that night that he apologized."
The Times reported Vanessa Bryant invited Malone to bring his child to where she was seated during the Lakers' game against the Bucks last month. Malone, seated courtside and wearing cowboy boots and a hat, obliged.
Malone and Vanessa Bryant hugged, according to Manley. Then Vanessa Bryant asked Malone, "Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?" Manley said.
"She said it twice," Manley told the Times, "and Karl answered the second time, 'I'm hunting for little Mexican girls.' "
Bryant said he obviously was surprised by Malone's remarks to his wife.
"The comments that he said, I don't know any man in this room that wouldn't be upset about that," Bryant said in the Lakers' locker room. "The past month, myself, my wife, (Malone's wife) Kaye, we've had fun together.
"We've been out to their house, just joking around, giving each other a hard time, just clowning, being sarcastic with one another, baby-sitting kids and all that."
Asked if there could have been a misunderstanding, Bryant said, "What he said is what he said. I believe in my heart that it wasn't a misunderstanding.
"My wife wasn't going to stand for it. She felt uncomfortable being around him to the point that she felt she had to call his wife and tell her."
Bryant said Malone didn't deny making the comments, and told him during their phone conversation, "Aw, you know, I'm sorry if I said anything that was out of line."
Malone, 41, told the Lakers on Oct. 1 he was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery he underwent three months earlier on his right knee and wasn't ready to play. But he didn't rule out returning at some point this season or beyond.
Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, opted out of his $1.65 million contract following last season, making him a free agent.
Despite his obvious anger toward Malone, Bryant said he would be able to separate his personal feelings if Malone should rejoin the Lakers.
"If he could come back and play for us and help us out, I'm happy to embrace him as a teammate," Bryant said. "But only as a teammate."
Bryant is the defendant in a civil lawsuit accusing him of rape. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for pain, scorn and ridicule the woman says she has suffered since her encounter with Bryant at the Vail-area resort where she worked in June 2003.
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wow, its ok to cheat on your wife, but now youre going to be pissed off at another man for allegedly doing so
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:14 am Posts: 8662 Location: IL
yeah... Kobe's wife isnt looking for attention here at all
give me a break... Malone made a comment that any of my 20 friends might make to my girlfriend... would i be offended? absolutely not... kobe AND his wife are one big fucking joke
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
Kobe is so full of shit he could lop off another ego made entirely of excrement.
I saw his sorry ass on SportsCenter last night. He went on, and on, and on about how this was a "personal matter, a private matter" and he "was a man and wasn't gonna bring it up in the media". THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT IT TO STUART FUCKING SCOTT?
on a side note, i do believe stuart scott sold the motor control for his right eye to the devil to be on ESPN
i loved the lakers, right now i cant say that, after seeing the way phil was coaxed to move on, them trading the MDE all to appease kobe, showed me how crazy buss has gotten.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:52 am Posts: 2401 Location: Cape Cod
Kobe Bryant needs to go away. In fact, let's just have the whole damb league go away for a while. It's not fun to watch anymore anyway, and the off the court stuff is high schoolish. I'm waiting for the day a posse gang war erupts -- well even more than the one that involved Ron Artest.
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Kobe Bryant needs to go away. In fact, let's just have the whole damb league go away for a while. It's not fun to watch anymore anyway, and the off the court stuff is high schoolish. I'm waiting for the day a posse gang war erupts -- well even more than the one that involved Ron Artest.
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